Conditioning

30 Aug 2011 9:10 AMBrendan Murray

 

Conditioning

 

 

Congratulations on setting  yourself new goals to improve your performance in your chosen sport or general health and fitness 

This is your athletic pursuit, it is a part of your character. By pursuing a standard in health  and performance first we must identify all  of the components to be considered. 

If from the outset we can identify that our athletic pursuit is an ongoing learning and development then we are open to adopting new behaviors that will improve your performance.

Important.  Be realistic about your performance and time frame to measure  achievement.

Your result or achievement in a week is completely irrelevant . Total potential would require a dedication of training all components of conditioning which includes  experience. A committed effort to improving performance would be more realistically viewed in a 2-3 year time frame. Success is a constant effort put forward. You have the Rest of your life!

 

Components of 360 conditioning 

 

Flexibility

Stability

Balance

Agility

Cardiovascular demands

Strength

Power

Mental training

Nutrition 

Programming

 

With all this to consider , your motivation to practice and seek learning will be the biggest contributing factor towards your out come. Thus, how you choose to spend you time will be important. 

 

Progression over seasons/years would allows for learning and integration of  the components of conditioning gradually over time- usually we choose to learn as the need promotes itself (injury, plateau ,defeat) . A valuable lesson from personal experience would be not to overlook the minor details. The excitement and enthusiasm for your goal or to be competitive can  distract you the focus from the 1% plays. The detriment is not immediate so the body does not identify the need. 

 

The no1 point I want you to take away from this is to enjoy your athletic pursuit . Celebrate the fact that you choose sport to be incorporated into you lifestyle. Your  endeavour is completely healthy, it is an  extension of you and your personal growth.   

 

 

The Musculoskeletal System 

We have been provided with a vessel that has an enormous potential to achieve movement. 

Integrating all components to perform optimal performance.

 

 

Flexibility

 

Posture 

Alignment

Length tension relationships. 

 

Before Our daily lives interrupted us by involving unbalance movement patterns we had a more perfectly functioning body. 

By restoring flexibility in the body we are closer to find the optimal position the body can be at for performance. Performance as in the physical demands of sport or just simply preventing that unbearable neck or lower back pain. 

Posture is the starting point as everything moves off the position of your spine. Flexibility plays an overall role in the correct functioning of muscles . Throughout the chain of your body muscular function  can interpret your standing posture. Poor posture restricts optimal movement . Optimal performance. 

Muscle strength imbalances pulls your body in different directions again -impeding optimal movement . 

Joint misalignment  is also adverse to optimal performance. Pains in the joint could nearly be a result of muscle tightness that impedes function. 

The cycling of posture , imbalances, and alignment issues can eventuate in frustrating pains and even debilitating injuries. 

The simple solution can be to begin to improve your flexibility. Add it to your exercise routine and work at restoring it over time and then maintaining it. 

Stretching can be a relaxation exercise and a calm state is beneficial for health and performance, 

Warm your body first then stretch . Working form the foot upwards stretch the muscles on the back front and sides of each limb and your torso. 

Take your time and take care, the total duration each muscle is stretched  should be at least 45 seconds, break it up into 2 efforts if need . Stay away from pain as your progress needs to be steady as not to injure the muscle by over stretching. 

 

 

Stability

 

You can't shoot a cannon from a canoe. 

 

Your core is your ultimate weapon in achieving your best performance . 

Stability requires a body awareness of your deep core muscles that provide a platform to perform any movement , from posture to technically challenging maneuvers.   

Put core strength at the top of your exercise priorities. 

 

Balance 

Stand on one foot and close your eyes . Think about every step we take . If it's unstable then we are overcompensating with other movement and that's a basic way our alignment and posture can be affected which leads to injury

 

 

Functional Strength. 

 

Strength. The state of being strong. Ability to do or bear. Capacity for exertion or endurance.

Functional strength refers to training movement patterns. When we train a movement patterns our goal is to perform the movement with correct biomechanics.  Our goal is to improve the performance of the movement when we take into real life or sporting field.   

By improving the performance we also lessen the likelihood of injury 

 

We have done this by 

 

- Correcting biomechanics to find the most efficient way to perform the movement . Common example would be back pain caused by over using lower back due to weak core and glute muscles ( 2 of the largest muscles in the body) 

- Increasing muscle performance reduces the load on joints . Our tendons and muscle are shock absorbers . When misaligned or fatigued the shock can be completely absorb by a joint  and surrounding muscle which then become overused. 

- Improving muscular strength endurance. Increasing the muscles Time under tension can be done by increasing reps or slowing down the speed of a repetition. 

- Improving pure strength can be done by increasing the load. 

 

For endurance athletes and the general public The same principal stands . When  our ability to perform the correct movement past the point of the real life demand, then competency is achieved. 

Strength is also contributed to by having the full range of movement . Restoring ROM after exercise is essential to the process 

 

Performance improves and we become pain free. 

   

 

Cardiovascular Training

 

Athletic perspective. 

 

"Cardiovascular fitness refers to how accustomed your heart and lungs are to exercise " R.G

 

Our muscles need oxygen to operate so the efficiency of the cardiovascular system should be our foundation of any conditioning. 

 

Aerobic - this is where your body is comfortably providing your working muscles with oxygen. You leave this zone when your heart rate elevates to your anaerobic threshold- AT(between 80-90%MHR)

Anaerobic - exercising without oxygen supply to the muscles. Your performance is maintainable for shorter periods of time when training or playing in this zone. 

We can condition our systems to increase our AT . This allows us to go harder before going into AT/ oxygen debt. Our recovery will also be improved. 

To do this perform intervals sitting 5-10 BPM below your AT. Intervals may range from 1-10 mins with rest periods ranging  20% above or below the working duration. 

Eg 4 min interval may have a rest from 3-5 mins . 

To improve performance once working above AT we train above AT. We  can condition our muscles to work more effectively in the absence of oxygen. This training is more painful as lactic acid causes muscle and lung burn. A conditioned body will find this more tolerable. 

Train above AT in intervals between 30sec and 60 sec and recover with a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio

Eg 1 min interval , 3 mins recovery. 

 

Fat loss perspective -Why anaerobic training will fast track your fat loss

 

Different heart rates and calories expended over 30 minutes of exercise

Aerobic- 300 cal

Anaerobic  450cal 

Think  back to the glycogen tank .remember when it's empty we only have  body fat stores to burn. When we train anaerobically we burn massive amounts of glycogen as the lack of oxygen inhibits fat burn . So training anaerobically is a massive key to fast tracking fat burn. 

 

Brendan Murray

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